FIGURATIVE ART RETREATS
JOIN US IN JAMAICA!
November 16-22, 2025
The Art of Modeling's Jamaica Figure Drawing Retreat is a travel opportunity rich with arts and culture for all levels of artists who want to immerse themselves in figurative drawing and painting in tropical plein air scenes with Jamaican art models. We will hold our first figure drawing retreat in Negril, Jamaica.
Included -Accommodations: We will be staying and figurative art making at an oceanside cliff resort in both cottages and in suites with ocean and garden views where you can jump off the laddered cliffs into the azure blue ocean that you can see the sea floor of, swim in the pool, soak in the hot tub, or relax in your own nook on the property. When night falls, hear the croaking of the tree frogs and crickets and reggae music coming from nearby yards. See the moon from a different perspective! Wake up to the sounds of the ocean and roosters. This a gated venue that we will be buying out for our group's exclusive use. You may roam the grounds and make yourself at home. All rooms have wifi, AC and a safe.
Included -Daily brunches and dinner buffets that will include traditional Jamaican cuisine. Enjoy the onsite thatched roof restaurant seated under trellises of bougainvillea surrounded by tropical plants and twinkling lights or sit out under the stars, overlooking the ocean.
Included -Every day during figure drawing we will serve afternoon snack tastings of different local seasonal fruits such as ganep, soursop, sweetsop, June plum, jackfruit, pineapple, different varieties of bananas, mango, grapefruit, tangerine, and fresh sugar cane. Jamaican “bun n’ cheese” and famous ginger “bulla cake” will also be served, along with fresh cucumber-carrot-ginger juice and fresh coconut water.
Included -Four days of figurative art making opportunities in the plein air on the resort grounds in various locations for three hours of one hour long poses each day with Jamaican fine art models on cliff/oceanside grounds where we are staying.
Included -Group excursion on a glass bottomed boat from Seven Mile Beach to Booby Cay Island, a small island off the coast. On the ride there we will hover over coral reefs to view the giant sea stars, sand dollars and tropical fish. We will dock on the island where a seafood lunch of fresh caught lobster, crab or fish with roasted breadfruit drizzled with garlic oil is being cooked over an open flame, Jamaican-style, and then served with raw veggies. Swim in the ocean, hike the island, and relax with a cold drink while watching the pelicans fly overhead and dive for fish while waiting for your food to cook. Transportation to and from Seven Mile Beach and to Booby Cay Island is included.
Included -Ganga farm tour in Orange Hill. Learn about the rich history of gangs farming while sipping on a cold Red Stripe, the official Jamaican beer, viewing the farm and smelling the plants. Watch the spliff rolling demonstration and sample the Ganga. Transportation to and from the Ganga farm is included.
There is much more to explore in your free time that is within walking or (very close, affordable and readily available) taxi distance, such as:
-Watch the famous Cliff Divers diving off the cliffs and the trees on the cliffs at the famous Rick’s Café
-Visit 7 Mile Beach: has restaurants & bars sprinkled along the way/would make a good long walk on a white sand beautiful beach, while stopping for food, drinks & beachside shopping all along the way. Find fresh squeezed sugar cane juice, cucumber juice and fresh coconut water & jelly that you drink straight out of the young coconut. Fresh grilled jerk chicken and shrimp are readily available along the way. Buy a souvenir beach towel from a local vendor to use while here. Ganga is easy to obtain here, and smoking a spliff on the beach is not scorned.
-Go out for free live reggae music played beachside/bar-side every Thursday night.
-Partake in numerous other touristy-activities in your own free time, such as riding on a bamboo raft down a crystal blue river, ATV riding or zip lining through tropical forests, horseback riding on the beach, touring rum estates, visiting waterfalls, stopping into art galleries and artisan shops of local artists.
PRICING & FURTHER DETAILS SOON COME
Sign up fully by March 1 and receive a $500 discount!
Not Included:
-Airfare and transportation are not included (with the exception of transportation for the group excursions).
-Art Supplies
-Tips for models and venue staff
-Other expenses you may incur on your own
Travel insurance with cancellation coverage is required for covering medical expenses, travel interruptions, and personal cancellation to cover anything that might require cancellation or a change in travel arrangements.
Ages 18+ only.
A non-refundable $800 deposit is required when you register; the balance is due August 1, 2025. There are no refunds after the balance has been paid, unless the trip is cancelled by us in which case you will receive a full refund, including the deposit.
Spots are on a first-come first served basis, and will be reserved upon receipt of your deposit.
I will email you the liability waiver once you register.
Ways to pay: by personal or cashier's check or money order if in the United States, by Zelle . If you will pay via electronic payment such as Paypal, Credit Card or Venmo, there is a 4% fee per payment to cover credit card fees.
CANCELATION POLICY
Once you have put down your deposit, you have confirmed your participation in the trip and it is non-refundable.
We require you to purchase travel insurance to cover medical expenses, travel interruptions, and personal cancellation to cover anything that might require you having to cancel or make a change in travel arrangements. We will require proof of your insurance 30 days after you register. If for some reason the trip has to be cancelled, you will be refunded what your travel insurance will not cover, if anything. Travel insurance is required to attend this trip and it will cover cancelations and interruptions, including the trip being cancelled by myself. If this happens, insurance should cover all expenses that you have paid out. If not, I will be glad to reimburse what is not covered.
*a minimum of 6 people must register to confirm this trip
Elle, Pat & two of the three kids in Negril at sunset in November 2023
The included details will all be arranged and coordinated by dual Jamaican/United States citizens, AOM Executive Director Ellen Allen and her husband Dr. Patrick Allen.
Ellen, an artist and a (mostly) former fine art model founded and runs Art of Modeling. In addition to model management, training and booking, she has been hosting and moderating figurative art drawing and painting sessions, and building community among area artists for the last five years at the NoBo Art Center in Boulder, Colorado.
Patrick, born and raised in Jamaica, immigrated to the US where he completed his education, earning a PhD in Molecular Biology under the tutelage of Nobel Prize Candidate, Dr. Harry Noller, then received a million dollar grant from the National Institutes of Health to research HIV at CU Boulder. He went on to found The Black Biomedical Research Movement, a non-profit organization that aimed to decrease disparities in Black health and to encourage more Black people to enter careers in the biomedical sciences, working with Black celebrities to more widely spread the message. He then founded the $27 million VC backed company Annai Systems, that developed a genomics data streamline platform designed to handle the complexities of next-generation sequencing data in the clinical, pharmaceutical, and research environments. Since retiring from the sciences, Patrick's current project is securing administratorship of several hundred acres of his family's land in the parish of Saint Thomas located in the foothills of the Blue Mountains where we envision implementing hiking trails, solar and agricultural farms, and an artistic compound, among other things (pst....soon seeking interested investors!)
